First Aid Kit Reminder

Post by **the lurkist** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:08 pm

go see the snake dude down at the Kentucky Reptile Museum.

Post by **Wes** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:14 pm

krampus wrote:anyone know where to get a good first aid kit for a dog, particularly one that has snake bite first aid?

Speaking from experience, the best thing to do if your dog gets bit, is just to take them to the vet. And that means Lexington (or maybe Richmond) on the weekends. Unless they have a very bad reaction, they will be just fine for a couple hours. And if they have a bad reaction, the odds of helping them without anti-venom (which they don't give to dogs) are small. So, just get them in the car and head toward the vet. Trust me, it will be a very, very long drive, but things work out OK almost always. Assuming they don't have a reaction, then the venom isn't the big thing - it is the swelling and infection that will cause the problems.

I am pretty sure you can apply the same ideas to a person as well.

The Reptile museum is a good resource, but they cannot actually do anything for you, other then offer some good advice.

Post by **dipsi** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:29 pm

ynot wrote:

oh and tape gloves.

Want I should cut those off for you? Mwa,ha,ha,haaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Post by **ems** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:32 pm

Krampus, Wes's advice is good, but if your still interested I think Phillip Galls carries some doggie specific first aid kits.

Post by **krampus** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 7:54 am

thanks wes, I think I am crafty enough to stop bleeding or a makeshift splint, (plenty of tape and pantiliner

) but she has walked by a few copperheads before without noticing and I can only get lucky so many times.

Post by **ynot** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 4:57 pm

I have stepped within inches of copperheads at least 4 times and not seen them. That's how I feel too. Sooner or later the odds get real bad.

Post by **bob** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 5:40 pm

The things that have the greatest potential for harm are not those that you think of... When you consider the types of medical issues that can occur in a climbing trip the list should be divided between the "medical" and the "traumatic".

Trauma: If you survive the initial insult and your associates do not worsen things by making you a paraplegic you have a good chance of making it out ok. All bleeding stops eventually and a bit of pressure can do wonders here. If you survive the first hour without specialist care, the likelihood is that you will survive regardless ... at this point the idea is not to make your situation any worse. There is time for evacuation (not the sort with the trowel) and treatment. Bad extremities, at the worse, are lost extremities, not lost lives the rest will survive.

Medical: This area is a bit more risky. This involves airways, hearts and lungs. These are the things that kill you dead without any recourse. This is a point of concern with those of my age and above as we are the guys that are walking around with the time bombs in our chests. These issues are the reasons to carry asprin and benedryl at all times. These meds may not be definitive treatments but they do represent the only "field" treatments available besides rapid transport, and advanced airway techniques. Benedryl (diphenhydramine) at a dose of 50 mgs for the average adult (>90 lbs) 25 mg below that, is the field treatment of choice for allergic phenomenom regardless of the source. This drug is available over the counter and will serve to reduce the problems related to allergic phenomena as well as problems with envenomation. Asprin is indicated in a dose of 325 mgs for treatment of all thromboembolic phenomena ... heart attacks, pulmonary emboli (blood clots to the lung) as well as for cerebrovascular disease (strokes). If you do not have the ability to provide advanced airway support as well as CPR these drugs do have the capacity to begin treatment for some ultimately lethal problems and do not require any specialized knowledge for their administration ... if the person states "no allergy" they will cause no harm.

Post by **RRO** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:56 pm

as goofy as this sounds, carry tampons in your first aid kit, even guys. you can plug a puncture wound, unravel and make a bandage, plug up a bleeding nose, soak up blood in a mouth and much more.

Post by **the lurkist** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 11:02 pm

That's why you carry them, right? Whatever, dude.

Post by **chh** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:57 pm

For what it's worth my vet carries dog specific first aid kits. But it is also the local emergency animal hospital. Any veterinary clinic would probably have something to sell you, even if it wasn't in a pre-packaged form. Most of the trauma stuff wouldn't be all that different from human care so anything you have in your kit for you would probably work for your dog, excepting perhaps dosages of anti-inflamintory/nsaid stuff. Snake bites and such, just get them to a vet.
Sam splints are pretty darn useful!